One-Handed Text Entry in Mobile-Based Virtual Reality: An Ambiguous Keyboard Technique

This paper presents a text entry technique for mobile-based VR on a one-handed ambiguous keyboard. The one-handed keyboard prototype comprises an alternative 16 keys (4 × 4) custom mechanical keyboard with strong tactile bump switches, 3D printed adapted keycaps, and a camera to track which keys the user’s fingers are hovering over. This technique is an intuitive and user-centered solution that focuses on providing visual and tactile feedback in real-time, improving the typing experience and performance. For demonstration purposes, additional devices—a Samsung Galaxy S8, a Samsung Gear VR headset, and a VR hand controller—were used alongside the designed keyboard prototype. This technique has shown to be a potential extension or alternative for short-term text entry compared to standard mobile VR ray-casting selection techniques. Improvements and empirical comparisons based on user studies will compose the next stages of this research.